


In The Small, Quiet Moments

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Leadership, Overwhelmed, Paperwork, Threats, Yuletide, Yuletide 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 05:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/606116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily takes a moment to think</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Small, Quiet Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ilyena_sylph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/gifts).



> Thanks so much to ___ for the beta!

Emily Boll considered the papers laid out on the desk before her. Charts and topological maps and disaster zones all color coded neatly and printed out for her to peruse. They were the necessary elements of a well-planned defense, but to her they were a painful reminder of everything she had been trying to escape from. Evacuation plans and supply reports belonged to her world under the Nathis siege, not to Pern. Pern was supposed to be a perfect utopia, free of these kinds of concerns. And though she and Paul had expected some problem settlers, such as Tubberman and Bitra, they hadn't anticipated an aerial attack!

In the small, quiet moments when she was able to throw off the responsibility of leadership for a short while, she railed against the unfairness of it all. Pern had been her oasis, her retirement. She was supposed to come here, settle down, and learn a useful trade other than battle planning and supply organizing. She was supposed to become a civilian here.

But the Thread threat had changed that.

And even though her expectations for her life on Pern had changed drastically after the first year of settling in - she had never envisioned Pierre for herself, for instance, or the chance of owning one of the curious fire dragonets - she had never expected to be thrust back into those overwhelming, trying, terrifying times from First Centauri again in the middle of her utopia!

It was a little selfish thinking, on her part, because it wasn't like the other colonists had asked for the thread either, and it was only natural that most of them would turn to herself and Paul once the attacks began. But this was the five minutes this week in which she didn't have to think rationally about the good of the colony. This was her five minutes of grief and railing against her fate that she allowed herself so briefly.

Pierre had suggested it, and though she had initially balked at the idea, it had been a great stress reliever over the last month.

With a sigh for the inevitable, Emily returned to her work. Paul was leading the attack on the fall today, and it was up to her to have these supply chains and evacuation routes all sorted out before he returned. The colonists would want answers tomorrow, and the next day, and she had been placed in the position of giving them.

Because whether she liked it or not, Emily was still a leader, and no matter how tired she was, she still wanted to protect her people.

Thread!

She shuddered. It didn't even have a sentient source, if one discounted Phas's suggestion of alien invasion. And, Mar Dook's ideas about thread's intelligence aside, it didn't seem to have a goal or purpose. At least the Nathis had been predictable in their siege! As best as they could tell, thread was a mindless eating mechanism. How could they fight against it?

Needing to stand for a moment and stretch her legs, she wandered over to the window. Seeing the charred and barren land where fields had been a fortnight ago made her cringe, and a familiar fire burned in her gut.

This thread was a threat to everyone on the planet, adult, child, and animal alike. If she was one of the few who had the experience to help lead, and was trusted to do so, she shouldn't be so resentful. Shaking her head lightly at the circle her thoughts had continuously run through for the past few weeks, she returned to her desk.

Pierre had been flattered on her behalf when the decision came through, as he found her leadership skills impressive, and he had every faith that she and Paul could bring them safely though this menace. He even found amusement in the things that bothered her the most, such as her frustration with all of these charts and papers that covered her desk.

There were reports from Tom and the other psychologists, indicating a blessedly low number of problems, but also a general feeling of distress that would need to be dealt with soon. Joel Liliencamp's concerns about the drain on stores could only be alleviated by getting him more help where possible, and the children were doing great work there. Boris and Dieter's calculations on thread's lifespan were worrying, but at least they were solid fact, which should reassure some. Kenjo's trips into space to study and hopefully destroy the thread were somewhat successful, the reports said, but Emily was still wary, remembering Sallah's concerns about his fuel hoard. Ezra's desperate search for a weapon to use against thread at its source was turning up a disappointingly small amount of data, but he maintained hope.

Fulmar Stone was giving them worrisome estimates of the longevity of the sleds, the slow turnaround of repairs, with his crews decimated by thread musters, and the over-use of the powerpacs. Those papers needed to go at the top of the pile to be discussed with Paul and Jim later. Emily knew that Paul had asked Sean Connoll about a cavalry unit and had been summarily shot down, but perhaps they could find another alternative to the sleds, at least until the dragons were born.

Pol and Bay sent daily reports on Kit Ping's efforts, and she had already created embryos that they declared viable. It was simply the excruciating wait! To have a solution in your mind, and the personnel to execute it, and then to have to wait for the results… Emily had done her share of waiting on First Centauri, but Paul had always been a man of action. She could see the wait getting to him, and knew that a confrontation with Bio wasn't far off. 

Emily consulted the thread schedule on her wall and then glanced back at the piles and piles of papers on her desk. Perhaps after the fall she and Paul could pay a visit to Bio, to check on the progress of the dragon embryos again. It might help him a bit to actively check on them. With that decision made, Emily adjusted her seat and resumed sorting through the piles of printouts. With any luck, a paper would eventually cross her desk that contained the solution to this thread menace, and then she could return to her idyllic retirement. With a snort for the unlikeliness of that thought, Emily bent to her task.


End file.
